BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — The negotiation process began Saturday for land acquisition of the properties in the city’s Beachfront North phase II redevelopment zone.
The property owners living in the three-street MTOTSA — Marine and Ocean Terraces and Seaview Avenue — neighborhood slated for eminent domain, received letters from an appraisal firm last weekend.
“We expected it,” Olga Netto, a resident of MTOTSA said. “We are still planning on going ahead with challenging the city in the taking of our homes.”
McGuire Associates, Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants, based in Jersey City, has been retained by the city to conduct appraisals of the properties in the MTOTSA redevelopment zone, according to the letter sent to the homeowners, dated Jan. 7.
“This appraisal is being performed in anticipation of the city’s fee taking of the property in connection with the Beachfront North Redevelopment Zone,” the letter stated.
The fee taking refers to the negotiation for the purchase of the properties by the city from the homeowner, according to Jim Aaron, the city attorney.
“The purpose of the appraisal is to estimate the current fair market value of the [said] property,” the letter states.
Mayor Adam Schneider said the letter is the beginning of the negotiation process.
“The law requires an appraiser to appraise properties,” he said. “That is how you determine fair market value.”
McGuire plans to conduct the inspections on Jan. 21, according to the letter and the firm requested that each homeowner be present during the appraisal.
The homeowners were also asked to call the appraiser to schedule a time for the inspection.
“We never received an appraisal from the developer,” Denise Hoagland of MTOTSA said. “We never received offers from the developer. Basically this means this is eminent domain.”
The designated co-developers Matzel & Mumford Corp., a division of K. Hovnanian, Middletown, could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The mayor said the city is following procedure.
The city is required to hire an appraiser in order to establish a fair market value for the properties, according to Schneider, who said after the value is decided, the city and the designated developers will offer the fair market value price to the MTOTSA homeowners as a minimum price.
“An appraiser has to be retained by the city as part of the [negotiation] process,” Schneider said. “Then the city and developer must offer our appraised number.”
“[The appraisal] provides a basis for the offer [to the homeowners],” Aaron said.
If the homeowners disagree with the appraised value, they can negotiate a price for their property. If the matter remains unsettled, then the city will turn to condemnation of the homes, he explained.
As part of the taking of the homes, a legal action is filed and the city is required to deposit the fair market value amount with the court.
“The homeowners can take that money immediately and do not have to wait,” Schneider said.
“They do have the right to say it is not enough money.”
MTOTSA has decided to hire legal representation and the residents are scheduled to sign a contract with a lawyer on Jan. 17. The name of the attorney has not been released.
The group has the support of 25 owners of properties in their neighborhood to challenge the taking of their properties, according to Hoagland, who said MTOTSA’s goal was to obtain 26 of the total 32 properties.
“We are not far from our goal,” she said. “We still have some people who are borderline and we might have more joining before our meeting [with the lawyer on Monday].”
There are currently 140 acres of Long Branch property being developed and approximately 100 of those acres are on the city’s shore line between Seaview Avenue and Bath Avenue.
“The oceanfront was getting worse [in 1990],” Schneider said in an interview in July. “The pier was falling apart, the water slide was not reopening and the quality of housing was getting worse.”
In 1995, Schneider saw the first proposal for high-density housing plan for the oceanfront by the city planner, Pratap Talwar. He has said he thought it would not work until he saw that the plan included the narrowing of Ocean Boulevard.
“The number one criticism I got from people in town was that they hated Ocean Boulevard,” he said in July.
The city adopted the $75 million redevelopment project in 1995, which consists of constructing townhouses, condominiums, businesses, recreation and a new central road on the beachfront property.
At that time Schneider said it would not be a quick fix and would probably take 15 years.
“I have five years to go,” he said this week.